Cat or Dog? - 45 pictures

Advanced Photoshop Contest - 45 entries

Contest Options

Contest Info

Started: 8/20/2006 06:00

Ended: 8/22/2006 06:00

Level: advanced

Entries: 45

Jackpot:

$20

$12

$8

Contest Directions: "By now you've probably heard of the black Persian cat Sebastian which looks like a bulldog due to its bottom teeth sticking out in an underbite - its pictures have been making the rounds on the net. Well, few people know that the cat is actually owned by a dentist (why am I not surprised?) who has given Sebastian gold crowns to strengthen his bottom teeth. The dentist said the cat was upset with its new look and didn't 'speak' to him for two days. Well, I'd be upset too, if one day I woke up looking like a bling-bling bulldog, when God originally created me as somebody else. And if you want a dog for a pet, get a dog, and don't buy a cute cat so that you can turn it into a mean looking bulldog by dental and plastic surgeries. I can understand though that a bulldog looking cat can be handy as it keeps a house safe and yet it does not eat as much. However, when was the last time you saw a starving dentist, who can't afford to keep a dog?
In this contest, let us warn all pet owners and show what these cat-dog pets may look like. So basically take a cat and give it dog features, or vise versa. The "face" of your pet has to contain features of both a cat and a dog, but there are no restrictions on the rest of the body.

This contest is fueled by the following news:
This particular cat - a cool cat, perhaps - apparently is ready to trade in his beloved catnip for some bling-bling. The cat, Sebastian, is a one year old Persian with long black hair. The cat also now has gold crowns on his bottom canines which have grown out in a way that resembles the teeth of a bulldog. The cat's owner is dentist David Steele. He said that he gave the cat the gold crowns to help strengthen his teeth. Steele was worried the teeth might break off or cause the cat some other types of problems if they were not reinforced. He did note that the cat now gets a good deal of attention. Some might suggest that he looks a bit like a hip-hop singer's guard cat with his two protruding gold teeth. Steele did note that the cat was upset and did not 'speak' to him for a couple of days after the teeth work was completed.
Dogs helping humans, Helper-Dogs:
Guide - dogs:
Specially trained dogs, which assist people with various physical defects, blind, deaf, invalid & such dogs are called assistant - dog (from English: Assist). Since ages, blind people took the assistance of guide-dogs for their protection during journeys. Johann Wilhelm Klein, founder of Training Institute for Blind in Vienna, was the first person, who trained the dogs specially for using them as guide dogs for blind persons. In 1960, Central Republican school for training of guide dogs for blind was established by Central Board of Russian Society for Blind.
On September 11, 2001, guide dog, named Dorado, saved its blind owner by escorting him from 70th floor of burning World Trade Center to exit.
Healer dogs:
Sensory capabilities of dogs are often used for treatment and diagnosis of patients. Specialists from Dogs Research Center in Aylesbury, UK, are training 17 rescue dogs in identifying the smell of hypoglycemia.
Ian Olver, CEO of Cancer Council Australia, said that during an experiment, dogs could, without mistake, identify carcinoma of lungs and breast by smelling the breath of man & thus, were successful in identifying 83 people with cancer through "sniffing".
Besides diagnosis of diseases, dogs were also extensively used for rehabilitation of patients. Treating people with the help of dogs is called "Canistherapy", one of the directions of pet therapy.
Some dogs are trained for assisting people, suffering from epilepsy. Neuroscientists from University of Florida (USA) observed that, 11% of dogs, belonging to epileptics, according to features, notable to them, could determine that an episode is imminent & signal the owner to get ready or take the medicine: bark or gently clasp the palms with teeth. Dogs are often used for treating the people with mental disorders, for eliminating the deprivation symptoms in inmates of orphanages.
Rescue dogs:
St. Bernard:
Unique smelling sense of dog saved many lives. In XVII century, monks of mountainous (almost 2500 m above sea level) monastery, asylum for travelers to St. Bernard, located on dangerous mountain pass in Swiss Alps, specially trained the huge dogs, which were later called St. Bernard, in finding people in trouble after avalanche or during snow storm. Dogs worked in pair, after finding a man, one would go back to monastery for finding help and the second dog would stay back to warm the traveler. Monument was erected in the honor of "Barry", most famous St.Bernard rescuer, on River Seine in Paris. Museum was built in Martin in the honor of legendary breed of rescue dogs.
Trained dog picks up the smell of human and his belongings from under 2m snow layer.
Under the initiative of American Kennel Club, an art event was conducted in October 2002 to pay tribute to search & rescue dogs, which assisted in identifying the people, alive under the rubble of World Trade Center or in finding the remains of dead people. Brightly colored sculptures of dogs were erected on streets at various parts of New York, in the lobbies of official buildings, near police stations & fire stations. German Shepherd was selected as the model. Statues were auctioned at Sotheby's auction in December. Proceeds were allocated for development of amateur & professional organizations, which are providing training to search and rescue dogs.
Presently, dogs are involved in rescue operations not only in mountainous regions but also in different parts of world and in regions, prone to earthquakes. International Rescue Dog Organization was founded for these purposes.
London Humane Society houses the statue of "Bob", which saved many lives.
Dogs are specially trained even for carrying out rescue operations in water. Dog's confidence in water is main criterion in selecting a dog. According to series of features, Newfoundland breed dogs are considered to be the most appropriate for rescue service.
Physique and special attention is paid to skeleton while selecting the puppies for training. Rigorous selection process according to genetic parameters is demanded from producers, who conduct systematic x-ray screening for hip joint dysplasia.